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Barbell Easy Strength Exercise Selection

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Jeff

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I want to run a 3x per week Easy Strength program. I want two of my exercises to be back squats and military press.

I would like for my third exercise to be deadlifts but don’t know if I should pick that since I will already be doing squats.

Can I do deadlifts as my third exercise or should I use an upper body pulling exercise instead?
 
For three times a week, I think you can do both back squats and deadlifts.

If you're still interested in a pulling exercise, I think it could be a good fourth exercise.

If I remember right Dan John said "push, pull, hinge, squat" and there you have the four of them.
 
Jeff said:
So do back squats, overhead press, deadlifts and pullups?
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That's a solid selection. Though I am partial to bent over rows as I somehow love them. But pull-ups are a great choice for the fourth exercise. They should also be good for the back after the squats and deadlifts.
 
I'd throw in some sorta midsection exercise. Rollouts, hollow rocks or Dragon flags.
I will say that I did easy strength with both pull ups for my upper pull and double kettlebell cleans for my hinge. I can say that my back, particularly my lats, were fried at day 17. even with waving the load. I would see if mixing deads and pull ups have a similar effect. if they don't let me know!
 
If I was alternating then I might be tempted to do barbell rows instead of pullups.

Alternate A and B:

A: squat, press, dead

B: squat, press, row
 
Jeff said:
So maybe alternate deadlifts and pullups?
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If deadlift is the hinge, and frequent deadlifting and squatting in the same session gets to you, kettlebell swings (heavy two-hand or double) would fit in that category. If you did ABA/BAB you would do each only 1-2 times a week.
 
That makes sense. So it is back to squats, presses, deadlifts and pullups.

I think I would wear my lower back out with bent rows if I was also doing deadlifts. That was why I wondered if I should do deadlifts if I was also doing back squats.
 
If I am doing deadlifts would it make sense to do front squats instead of back squats?
 
front squats would limit the amount of weight used so yeah its a good variation if your worried about over training.
 
Per a recent thread in the Dan John blog:

"01-25-18 10:58 AM - Post#861462




First, squats have never worked in this program. I kept trying to make them work...they don't. That's why I suggest the Three Verticals:
Press
Pull Up
Deadlift
Plus ab wheel and swings (or whatever)."

This was a response from Dan. Whether that would change due to 3x weekly I don't know.

FWIW, I did the 40-day workout last summer and will do so again. I included a squat movement that I rotated every two weeks; front squat, Zercher squat and back squat. The back squat did not seem to mate well for me whereas the Zercher squat was pure gold. Perhaps loading was the problem in that I feel that I went too heavy in the back squat. In my next run I'm not sure that there will be any squat movement included beyond goblet squats in the warm-up. My overhead pressing and deadlift responded very well to ES.
 
That is especially tough to hear since back squats are my favorite exercise.
 
If I did presses, pullups and deadlifts, is there any sort of order I should do the movements?
 
I would like to add that while the 40 day program is in the Easy Stength book, it is not the totality of the book. Earlier in the book, ES is described as working out with 2 or 3 Big Bang exercises 2 to 3 times per week, around 10 reps per lift, keeping reps in 1-5 range, emphasizing doubles and triples. I don’t know if that is so different than the 40 day program that it changes if squats work or not.
 
Hi Jeff,

Sorry for the late response. It may very well be the case that the ES system outlined in the book may differ dramatically from the 40-day workout. I trained five times a week on a template that Dan provided in PDF form, mostly 2x5 although there were heavier waves and unloading days. As you can probably tell I have not read the ES book.
 
Fair enough. I am going to roll with barbell back squats, military presses and conventional deadlifts. I will know soon enough how well it works. If I am not making progress then I will change something.
 
New to the forum, been lurking for some time.

I've run a 40 day Easy Strength program twice and loved it. I wish I would have known about it years ago, I'd be so much better off.

I asked for clarification of terms on Dan John's forum, which I'll summarize. Easy Strength from the book is 2-3x a week, higher load, low reps, basic human movements. The book goes on to describe "Even Easier Strength" and the original 40 day challenge which differs in being higher frequency, 4-5x a week, but lighter load. It seems that this second version is what most people mean when they refer to "Easy Strength."

DJ doesn't like squats for ES, others have found they can work. My experience is that I cannot squat and DL productively in the same workout. Whatever comes second suffers, they're just too similar. The first time I ran it, I did KB swings and goblets for a warmup, then leg raises for the "anterior," DL, incline DB bench, pull-ups, assorted loaded carries. That was the first time I worked on the DL, and I loved the program.

The second time I ran it, I was in a little suburban soccer mom gym with no real barbells, and no way to do proper squats, bench, or DL. So I did light front squats to try to get my wrists able to handle racking in front, and a suitcase DL. The front squat was really light, more like a goblet, so it didn't interfere, and the suitcase DL was weird. I didn't really like it, and probably won't do it again for a long time.

To the OP, my suggestion would be to pick either the squat or the DL to focus on first, run it for awhile, then switch. So, maybe do swings as a warmup for a squat routine, or goblets for a DL routine.

In sum, I loved the program. I always felt better after training than before, motivated to do it again.
 
If I remember correctly Dan had several options depending on how many days an individual had available to them to train per week. I will look through my materials and provide his thoughts if you are interested.
 
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